Accused killer representing himself rests defense
A Northern California man accused in the financially motivated murder of a Palm Springs retiree rested his case Thursday. Daniel Carlos Garcia, 30, who is representing himself, is charged with 10 felony counts, including murder and conspiracy, for the Dec. 5, 2008, stabbing death of 74-year-old Clifford Lambert. Co-defendant Kaushal Niroula, 31, is representing himself against the same charges and will start calling witnesses on Monday.
Two other men were convicted of murder and other charges last year, while two more pleaded guilty in connection with the case in 2010.
Garcia told jurors in his opening statement last week that they would see a different version of him than the prosecution presented. “They believe this case is what happens when people live lives motivated by greed,” Garcia said, noting that the prosecution likened the alleged conspiracy to kill Lambert to a plot from a Martin Scorsese movie and compared the defendants to vultures.
Garcia told the jury he was well-traveled and they would learn about his family and upbringing. “Nothing in my life was motivated by greed,” he said. Garcia said he was with his family in Northern California when Lambert disappeared, “not in Palm Springs participating in a conspiracy.” He said he and David Replogle, a lawyer who was convicted of murder in the case last year, started a business venture to sell rare, multimillion-dollar paintings. “Why would anyone commit such a heinous crime for such a relatively small amount?” he said.
Garcia said that, rather than trying to hurt people, he wanted to help them by developing a technology called Hydra, which would help law enforcement crack down on child pornography. His co-defendant, on the other hand, “is perhaps the greatest enchanter I’ve had the misfortune to meet … and you’ll hear some of the stories that have come out of his mouth,” Garcia said.
Niroula said in his opening statement that the case was about revenge, Garcia said. “You’ll learn why,” he said, adding that he was a witness in another case against Niroula and Russell Manning, who pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in the Lambert murder case in 2010 and was sentenced to five years in prison. “It obviously goes against the prosecution’s (claim) that I’m participating willingly in a conspiracy with someone I’m testifying against,” Garcia said.
He said investigators stopped short with the electronic evidence, which he called the “heart of the case.” “They did not look at every (electronic) device, they didn’t even know where the files originated from,” Garcia said. He said there was no evidence text messages on a phone investigators associated with him were sent or received, and claimed the phone was improperly handled by law enforcement.
Garcia said an expert witness would show the jury that text messages can be modified, along with “numerous tools on (my) laptop and evidence going back months showing modifications.” This week, the expert, Christopher Pavan, demonstrated to the jury how to alter text messages. Several people had access to his passwords and email accounts, Garcia said. “That also means other people were able to gain access and change things and manipulate them,” Garcia said.
He said jurors would see his bank records, which would show he had means, including money from a previous settlement, and “I had no financial motive to commit a murder.” Deputy District Attorney Lisa DiMaria said Garcia met Lambert online the spring before he died, and Lambert — a gay man who preferred younger men — paid for Garcia to travel from Northern California to see him. Garcia’s visit
didn’t go well and he left earlier than planned, charging Lambert’s credit card when he upgraded his plane ticket to first class, the prosecutor said in her opening statement.
Text messages from Garcia’s phone showed he had contact information for Replogle, who had represented him at one point and became a friend, and Miguel Bustamante, a student and bartender in the Bay Area. Bustamante’s roommate, Craig McCarthy, was also dragged into the conspiracy, DiMaria said. She said Garcia sent Lambert’s address and phone number to Niroula, and on Dec. 1, Replogle and Niroula flew to Burbank and drove to Palm Springs. The next day, Niroula posed as an attorney representing a wealthy New York family that had left Lambert money or valuable artwork in a will, the prosecutor said.
On Dec. 5, Niroula was at Lambert’s home, and at some point let McCarthy and Bustamante into the house, the prosecutor said. McCarthy grabbed Lambert and held him at knifepoint in the kitchen, and Bustamante stabbed Lambert to death, DiMaria told jurors. She said Niroula brought bedding into the kitchen so they could wrap up the body, while Bustamante and McCarthy cleaned the blood. They put Lambert’s body into the trunk of his own Mercedes-Benz, and Bustamante and McCarthy buried Lambert in the desert the next day, according to the prosecutor. They drove the car up to the Bay Area, and Garcia started using Lambert’s debit card to withdraw money the same day, she alleged.
On Dec. 10, Niroula allegedly opened a Wells Fargo account with Replogle’s information. The next day, Replogle, posing as Lambert, gave art dealer Manning power of attorney over Lambert’s accounts, and Manning — accompanied by Niroula — wired $185,000 from Lambert’s Palm Springs bank account to the newly opened Wells Fargo account, according to the prosecution. On Dec. 12, Replogle — again posing as Lambert and accompanied by Niroula — met with a notary and forged four power of attorney documents, including a durable power of attorney that gave Manning power of attorney over Lambert’s entire estate, DiMaria alleged. The same day, Niroula transferred $30,000 into Bustamante’s account and Manning wrote a check to Replogle for more than $15,000, closing out Lambert’s account, she said.
Niroula said in his opening statement that there was no evidence linking him to the killing and insisted the prosecution’s case was based on excuses and “fabricated” text messages. He said Department of Justice personnel never found any forensic evidence after sweeping Lambert’s home “floor to ceiling,” and the house was later “gutted” and sold. There also was no evidence found in Lambert’s Mercedes — the car was put into a police impound lot in the Bay Area and later sold, Niroula said. He called the proceedings “trial by text,” alleging that more than 30,000 text messages from Garcia’s phone were “fabricated and planted.”
Replogle and Bustamante were convicted in January 2011 of first-degree murder and eight other felony counts stemming from Lambert’s death, and both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. McCarthy pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in August 2010 and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
